Written Answers Friday 3 March 2006

Scottish Executive

Abolition of Feudal Tenure

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have claimed compensation from tenants as a result of the abolition of feudal tenure.

Hugh Henry: We have no information on this matter. The act applies only to owners of property and their former feudal superiors, rather than to tenants.

Abolition of Feudal Tenure

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received from interested parties since the abolition of feudal tenure.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has not received anything which it regards as representations since the abolition of the feudal system, although it has received a small amount of correspondence on individual cases.

Abolition of Feudal Tenure

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has offered money to local authorities to avoid the need for them to seek compensation from tenants as a result of the abolition of feudal tenure.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive has not offered money to local authorities as a result of the abolition of the feudal system. The legislation does not permit them to seek compensation from tenants, but only from property owners who had the status before the act was commenced of "vassals" in relation to whose property the local authority was feudal superior.

Agriculture

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was paid directly to farmers through subsidies in each year since 1999, not including administrative costs.

Ross Finnie: The total subsidy to farmers in Scotland, net of administrative costs, between 1999 and 2004 is shown in table 1.

  Table 1

  

Year
Total Value of Subsidies
(£ Million)


1999
454.8


2000
456.8


2001
458


2002
503.6


2003
518.5


2004
531.8

Agriculture

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Environment and Rural Development expects to launch the updated version of A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture .

Ross Finnie: I will launch A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture: Next Steps this morning. Copies will be available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39001) and on the Scottish Executive website.

Antisocial Behaviour

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many motor vehicles have been seized by police since the introduction of recent anti-social behaviour legislation.

Hugh Henry: Police forces across Scotland have seized 17 vehicles since the measure commenced in March 2005 under the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004. They have issued in excess of 340 warning notices, the first step towards seizing a vehicle.

Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of its consultation on the proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill, what its estimate is of the total cost of the (a) consultation exercise, (b) implementation of the legislation and (c) proposed regulator and, if the regulator is the Fish Health Inspectorate within the Fisheries Research Services (FRS), how much additional funding would require to be paid to the FRS to fulfil the functions of the regulator.

Rhona Brankin: Two thousand, five hundred copies of the consultation paper on the Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill were produced at a cost of £18,698. In addition, the Executive held 10 public meetings across Scotland, at a total cost of £2,151. The consultation paper included a Draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) which envisaged additional costs of some £250,000 to the public purse. The Executive has yet to analyse the responses to the consultation paper and Draft RIA and has not yet decided on the final content of the bill. An analysis of the estimated costs of implementing the legislation – including the costs of any regulator will be published in the financial memorandum that will accompany the bill when it is introduced into the Parliament.

Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of its consultation on the proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill, what liability the proposed regulator would have in the event of salmon dying as a result of the treatment carried out by, or on the instruction of, the regulator.

Rhona Brankin: The issue of where the liability lies for stock lost as a result of treatment carried out by, or on the instruction of, a regulator is one that has been raised during the consultation. The Executive will give this issue due consideration alongside other points raised by respondents during the consultation.

Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of its consultation on the proposed Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill, what the relationship will be between the proposed regulator and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and whose requirements for action will take precedence in law.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive has yet to analyse the responses to the consultation and consider fully the provisions that will go into the bill, including the need for a regulator, its role and its relationship with other regulators.

Child Protection

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been subject to (a) home removal orders, (b) hearings by sheriffs or children’s panels which have rejected child removal recommendations and (c) home removal orders but were unable to be removed due to a lack of suitable accommodation in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Robert Brown: In respect of part (a) of the question, page 13 of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration annual report for 2004-05 (Bib. SE/2005/219) provided for the first time a breakdown of the number of children who had been accommodated away from home and the types of residential Supervision Requirement. A copy of the report is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. In respect of part (b) of the question this information is not collated centrally. Turning to part (c) of the question, this information is a matter for local authorities and is not held centrally.

Child Protection

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children it estimates live in households with a (a) drug-abusing and (b) alcohol-abusing parent, or parents.

Hugh Henry: In Hidden Harm – Responding to the needs of children of problem drug users , published by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2003, it was estimated that there were 10,000-19,000 children in Scotland living with a drug using parent. In the same document, it was estimated that there may be between 41,000-59,000 children of parental drug users in Scotland overall.

  We do not have an equivalent figure for the number of children living in households with a parent who has an alcohol problem. The latest estimates, however, are that there may be up to 100,000 children in Scotland affected by parental alcohol problems.

Child Protection

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have been placed on child protection registers in each of the last five years, broken down by child protection committee area.

Robert Brown: The number of children registered on child protection registers cannot be broken down by child protection committee area, but is available by local authority area.

  Local authority figures are all published information and can be found in Child Protection Statistics 2002 and 2003 and Children’s Social Work Statistics 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 publications. These publications are placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib. numbers are as follows:

  
Child Protection Statistics for the Year ended 31 March 2001 - Bib. number 24269
Child Protection Statistics for the Year ended 31 March 2002 - Bib. number 25195
Children’s Social Work Statistics 2002-03 - Bib. number 29834
Children’s Social Work Statistics 2003-04 - Bib. number 34321
Children’s Social Work Statistics 2004-05 - Bib. number 38157.

Child Protection

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were removed from their home in each of the last five years as a consequence of parental (a) drug misuse, (b) alcohol misuse, (c) sexual abuse and (d) physical abuse, broken down by local authority area, showing year-on-year percentage changes and also the percentage change for the five-year period.

Robert Brown: This is a matter for local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

Coastal Protection

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on coastal protection in each year since 1999 and what schemes have benefited from Executive support, showing the monies they have been granted.

Rhona Brankin: The total amount provided by the Executive, to date, in grant support to local authorities for coast protection measures since 1999 is £4,428,182.56. Further information on the amount spent each year since 1999, and on the schemes that have benefited from Executive grant support, is provided in the following tables.

  

Financial Year 
Amount Paid


1999-2000
0


2000-01
17,340.94


2001-02
1,585,327.04


2002-03
130,096.90


2003-04
807,731


2004-05
1,103,619.11


2005-06
784,067.57



  

Council
Scheme Name
Total Amount Paid to Date


Angus
Carnoustie
523,514.36


 
Milton Mill, Monifieth
43,206.31


Fife
East Wemyss
822,500.35


 
West Wemyss
625,496.55


 
Dysart
507,419.24


Aberdeenshire
Stonehaven Bay
29,171.58


Highland
Wick
1,876,874.17

Drug Misuse

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on drug awareness campaigns in each year since 1999.

Hugh Henry: While drug campaign materials are funded from a variety of sources within the Executive, the bulk of expenditure on drug awareness campaigns is on advertising and media (since 2002-03, through the Know the Score drugs communication strategy).

  Drugs advertising campaign expenditure since 1999 has been as follows:

  

Year
Total Expenditure


1999-2000
There was no campaign that year


2000-01
£54,114


2001-02
£1,175,509


2002-03
£1,505,490


2003-04
£909,728


2004-05
£1,237,704

Education

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of early intervention strategies in schools in local authorities across Scotland.

Robert Brown: The quality of early education in schools and pre-school settings is monitored and evaluated through regular inspections by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education (HMIE). Pre-school inspections are integrated, being carried out by HMIE and the Care Commission together. As well as undertaking evaluations of individual schools and pre-school settings, HMIE also report on wider aspects of education provision.

  Specific programmes are monitored and evaluated on an individual basis. For example the Early Intervention Programme, aimed at raising literacy and numeracy standards, was evaluated by external consultants and the results are available on the Scottish Executive website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/education/ic71-00.asp.

  The Executive takes a close interest in external published research into the effectiveness of early education programmes, such as the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project.

Education

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which of its current policies and strategies refer specifically to the importance of children’s play or supporting children’s play.

Robert Brown: The Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5 recognises the powerful contribution that play makes to children’s learning. The curriculum review will extend the approach used in pre-school to the initial stages of primary, emphasising the importance of opportunities for children to learn through purposeful, well-planned play.

  The Executive’s Childcare Strategy stresses the importance of ample opportunities for sporting activities and play, and this is reinforced by the National Care Standards for early education and childcare up to the age of 16, which require that activities provided by staff will allow children and young people to enjoy both organised and free play. The recent expansion of out of school care provision allows increased opportunities for safe and rewarding play and activities for school age children.

  Active play and physical activity for older children is being promoted through the Active Schools programme.

  Under the Physical Activity Strategy, the Executive is funding a development worker to promote the play@home scheme. A scheme designed to increase parents/carers confidence in handling their babies, and to develop skills in helping children learn through creative play.

  A draft Scottish Planning Policy 11 will shortly be issued for consultation. The consultation draft will include national minimum open space standards for provision within certain types of new development.

Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to make local authorities aware of the changes arising from the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 which will affect family support services and their funding.

Hugh Henry: The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 makes no changes to the funding of family support services. I announced during the Stage 3 debate on the Bill on 15 December 2005 that a further £300,000 would be made available in 2006-07 for capacity building, infrastructure development and joint working between local family mediation and relationship counselling services. The aim is to put local services in a stronger position to contribute effectively to the wider agenda on integrated services for children and families that local authorities drive forward in their areas.

Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how family contact centres, as provided for in the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, will be funded.

Hugh Henry: The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 makes no provision for family contact centres. A number of contact centres run by voluntary sector organisations operate to facilitate contact between children and non-resident parents or other close family members, and are funded by a range of local bodies, including local authorities.

Family Mediation

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the £600,000 included in the revenue support grant to local authorities for family mediation services will be allocated to each local authority.

Hugh Henry: No decisions have yet been reached on the distribution of the resources which we plan to channel through local authorities as from April 2007. Discussions continue with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Our aim in transferring grant support to local level is to enable sustainable and effective services meeting the needs of families in transition, and to align family relationship support services more closely with other important services to children and families provided or secured by local government.

Fire Safety

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that educational premises, including schools, are re-categorised as "designated premises" as defined in the Fire Precautions Act 1971.

Hugh Henry: The Fire Precautions Act 1971 will be repealed in Scotland later this year when Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 is commenced. There are therefore no plans to designate any premises under the 1971 Act in addition to those already designated.

Fire Safety

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive why educational premises are excluded from the terms of the Fire Precautions Act 1971.

Hugh Henry: To date, there have been only two designation orders made under the Fire Precautions Act 1971 to designate particular uses of premises. These orders have been in respect of hotels and boarding houses, factories, offices, shops and railway premises.

  However, educational premises are not fully excluded from the terms of the Fire Precautions Act 1971. The local fire and rescue authority/joint fire and rescue board may take enforcement action where they consider that use of the premises involves a risk to persons on the premises in case of fire, so serious that use of the premises should be prohibited or restricted.

Fire Safety

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that all technical guidance in respect of escape from school classrooms includes diagrams of escape routes.

Hugh Henry: Work is currently underway on a series of sector-specific guides to complement the new fire safety legislation for non-domestic premises which is due to come into force in October this year. Each guide will be the subject of consultation and consultation on the first guide (which is in respect of residential care premises) has recently concluded. It is the intention to use this first guide as a template for the other guides in the series which will include a guide in respect of fire safety in educational premises. Stakeholders will be invited in due course to comment on the content of the educational premises guide and the use of diagrams where considered appropriate.

Fire Safety

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a full list of public buildings, in addition to educational premises, which are exempt from designated status as defined in the Fire Precautions Act 1971.

Hugh Henry: Section 1 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 lists those premises which may be the subject of a designation order. To date, only two designation orders have been made: the Fire Precautions (Hotels and Boarding Houses) (Scotland) Order 1972 and the Fire Precautions (Factories, Offices, Shops and Railway Premises) Order 1989. Therefore any buildings which fall within the list at section 1(2) of the 1971 Act but which have not been included in either of the designation orders are exempt from designated status.

Fire Safety

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it anticipates that the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 will come into force and what requirements are currently placed on educational premises to comply with fire safety regulations.

Hugh Henry: Parts 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 commenced on 1 August 2005. Part 3 (which introduces a new fire safety regime for non-domestic premises and licensed houses in multiple occupation in Scotland) is due to come into force in October this year.

  At present, fire safety requirements are spread across a large number of different pieces of primary and subordinate legislation, ranging from health and safety to licensing legislation. One of the key pieces of legislation which all workplaces (including educational premises) is subject to is the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 (as amended) and it is the responsibility of the employer to comply with this legislation.

  The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and related subordinate legislation will, however, streamline the current fragmented situation replacing the majority of existing general fire safety legislation such as the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.

Fire Service

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reduce the number of fire and rescue service boards.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive currently has no plans to reduce the number of fire and rescue boards. However, as was stated in our report on the analysis of responses to the consultation document The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service: proposals for legislation , the structure of fire and rescue services will be kept under review to ensure that the existing structure remains the optimum in service delivery for communities. The consultation analysis report can be found on the Scottish Executive website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/1100/0002414.pdf .

Foster Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged 16 to 18 remained with foster carers in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Robert Brown: The numbers of looked after children aged 16 or 17 years old in foster care on the 31 March each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area, are shown in the following table. It should be noted that figures exclude children on short-term placements only and that some figures were estimated due to missing or incomplete data.

  Number of Children Looked After Aged 16 and 171 by Foster Carers on the 31 March

  

Local Authority
19991
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005


17 Years and Over
16 and 17 Years Old
16 and 17 Years Old
16 and 17 Years Old
16 and 17 Years Old
16 and 17 Years Old
16 and 17 Years Old


Aberdeen City
7(e)
12(e)
11(e)
15(e)
7(e)
9(e)
6


Aberdeenshire
11
20
18
15
12
10
10


Angus
*
8
6
11
13
11
14


Argyll and Bute
*
*
0
5
9
5
*


Clackmannanshire
*
*
*
*
*
5
6


Dumfries and Galloway
*
17
18
9
9
16
12


Dundee City
*
13
14
17
14
17
17


East Ayrshire
7
6
6
7
10
5
*


East Dunbartonshire
0
*
*
*
*
*
*


East Lothian
5
10
8(e)
23
21
9
9


East Renfrewshire
*
0
*
*
*
*
*


Edinburgh, City of
21(e)
29
35
27
28(e)
33
19


Eilean Siar
*
*
*
*
*
5
*


Falkirk
14
11
17
20
19
14
18


Fife
*
14
20
18
22
23
26


Glasgow City
64
41
42
45
64
69
62


Highland
15
16
18
11
12
8
20


Inverclyde
0
N/A
5
*
*
*
*


Midlothian
13(e)
14
7
5
7
8
6


Moray
*
N/A
N/A
7(e)
6
6
5


North Ayrshire
6
*
7
*
5
5
*


North Lanarkshire
5
7
9
6
15
14
12


Orkney Isles
0
*
*
*
*
0
*


Perth and Kinross
*
8
7
*
8
5
5


Renfrewshire
7
6
6
8
8
7
*


Scottish Borders
5
15
10
11
10
14
10


Shetland
*
*
5
*
0
0
*


South Ayrshire
0
*
*
6
*
*
*


South Lanarkshire
*
*(e)
7(e)
*
5
11
10


Stirling
6
*
*
*
7
11
7


West Dunbartonshire
5
*
*
*
8
6
7


West Lothian
*
10
13
0
10
*
16


Total
223
291
307
293
348
336
325



  Notes:

  1. For 1999, age categories differed to subsequent years.

  N/A - age splits not available and no estimates provided.

  (e) - data has been estimated.

  Cells containing * represent small numbers that are suppressed to maintain confidentiality.

Health

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many babies have been cared for in each intensive and special care unit in each of the last two years.

Lewis Macdonald: The data in table 1 shows the number of babies who have been cared for within each intensive and special care unit in 2003 and 2004.

  Table 1. Babies Cared for Within Intensive and Special Care Units1,2

  

Health Board
Location
20033
2004


Ayrshire and Arran
Ayrshire Central Hospital
 342 
 379 


Borders
Borders General Hospital
 102 
 98 


Argyll and Clyde
Inverclyde Royal Hospital
 143 
 - 


 
Royal Alexandra Hospital
 353 
 543 


Fife
Forth Park Hospital
 321 
 338 


Greater Glasgow
Queen Mother’s Hospital
 135 
 83 


 
Southern General Hospital
 248 
 281 


 
The Princess Royal Maternity Unit
 539 
 550 


Highland
Raigmore Hospital
 302 
 265 


Lanarkshire
Wishaw General Hospital
 869 
 875 


Grampian
Aberdeen Maternity Hospital
 792 
 832 


Lothian
Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion
 603 
 659 


 
St John’s Hospital At Howden
 246 
 264 


Tayside
Ninewells Hospital
 412 
 466 


Forth Valley
Stirling Royal Infirmary
 336 
 176 


Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary
 182 
 165 


All
 
 5,925 
 5,974 



  Source: SMR11 and SBR for 2003 and SBR episode table for 2004.

  Notes:

  1. Includes special care baby units, high dependancy units and intensive care units.

  There is known to be variation in admission criteria and recording practice.

  2. It is not possible to distinguish between intensive and special care units.

  3. There may be some inaccuracy in the results as two data were used.

  The information for 2005 is not yet available.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many deaths MRSA was mentioned on the death certificate in each of the last five years and in how many of these cases MRSA was the underlying cause of death, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is given in the following table.

  These data should be treated with great caution: detailed information on healthcare associated infections (HAIs) as a cause of death from specific infections can be difficult or impossible to interpret safely. As at the end of 2004 there was no international code for recording MRSA as a cause of death: the MRSA data above were obtained by analysing the full cause of death text recorded by certifying doctors. In addition, detailed recording of specific HAIs as a cause of death is often influenced by the general level of professional and public awareness of that HAI at the time.

  Deaths Involving MRSA

  

NHS Board of Residence
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


(a) Deaths where MRSA was Mentioned on the Death Certificate


Scotland
109
136
155
170
188


Argyll and Clyde
4
9
9
9
12


Ayrshire and Arran
8
9
11
10
9


Borders
4
6
4
5
2


Dumfries and Galloway
5
6
5
7
8


Fife
9
14
8
22
21


Forth Valley
1
10
8
6
6


Grampian
14
8
11
11
14


Greater Glasgow
16
18
26
32
34


Highland
1
3
5
6
6


Lanarkshire
12
4
14
16
20


Lothian
23
31
41
33
32


Orkney
0
0
1
0
0


Shetland
0
1
1
0
0


Tayside
12
16
11
12
22


Western Isles
0
1
0
1
2


(b) Deaths where MRSA was the Underlying Cause of Death - Included in (a) above


Scotland
35
36
46
39
42


Argyll and Clyde
3
5
4
0
6


Ayrshire and Arran
1
1
4
2
1


Borders
0
1
2
1
1


Dumfries and Galloway
0
1
0
0
2


Fife
4
2
2
8
2


Forth Valley
1
6
2
1
2


Grampian
4
3
3
1
1


Greater Glasgow
4
6
13
11
9


Highland
1
0
1
2
1


Lanarkshire
5
0
3
7
6


Lothian
8
6
10
4
5


Orkney
0
0
0
0
0


Shetland
0
0
0
0
0


Tayside
4
5
2
2
6


Western Isles
0
0
0
0
0

Ministerial Correspondence

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its performance in answering ministerial correspondence was in the third and fourth quarters of 2005.

Ms Margaret Curran: In the answer to question S1W-24583 on 28 March 2002, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the number of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them.

  In the quarter July to September 2005, 2,539 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 70% received a reply within our target of 20 working days.

  In the quarter October to December 2005, 3,011 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 76% received a reply within our target of 20 working days.

NHS Procurement

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money has been used for capital procurement in the NHS since 1997 and what the current value is of the capital assets purchased over that period.

Mr Andy Kerr: Capital investment in the NHS since 1997 is detailed in the following table:

  

Year
Baseline Gross
(£ Million)
Income
(£ Million)
Net
(£ Million)


1997-98
143.73
-7.4
136.3


1998-99
148.1
-12.1
136.0


1999-2000
178.4
-12.1
166.3


2000-01
247.9
-12.1
235.8


2001-02
297.1
-12.1
285.0


2002-03
289.1
-12.1
277.0


2003-04
322.1
-12.1
310.0


2004-05
362.1
-12.1
350.0


2005-06
438.1
-12.1
426.0


2006-07
470.1
-12.1
458.0


2007-08
544.1
-12.1
532.0



  Details of capital procurement and the current value of the capital assets purchased over that period are not held centrally. NHS boards are responsible for delivering health services to their local population and receive the majority of the portfolio’s capital funding on a formula basis. This allows resources to be clearly applied and prioritised, by NHS boards, in support of the objectives set out in Local Delivery Plans and supporting Property Strategies.

NHS Spending

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the 2006-07 NHS spending plans, announced on 20 February 2006, reflect the actual redistribution of funding according to the Arbuthnott formula and what the funding would have been had the Arbuthnott formula been applied in full to each NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: When the Arbuthnott formula was introduced in 2000-01, it was agreed that, in order to ensure no detrimental effects, no Board would lose funding and moves to target allocations would be achieved by a levelling up process. Since then, all boards have received a standard uplift annually to meet the cost of pay and price increases, increases in the cost of prescribed drugs and developments. In addition those boards below their target share of resources under the Arbuthnott formula receive additional funding. For 2006-07 all boards received a standard uplift of 6.75% with an additional £30 million allocated to those boards below their Arbuthnott target share of resources. Details of actual allocations for 2006-07 and Arbuthnott target shares are as follows:

  

NHS Board
Actual General Allocation
2006-07
  (£ Million)
Target Arbuthnott Allocation

(£ Million)
Difference Between Target Allocation 
and Actual Allocation
(£ Million)


Ayrshire and Arran
496.914
501.528
4.614


Borders
143.455
145.444
1.989


Dumfries and Galloway 
207.375
209.930
2.555


Fife
430.918
436.417
5.499


Forth Valley
338.619
342.095
3.476


Grampian
583.490
584.691
1.201


Greater Glasgow
1,634.850
1,602.696
-32.154


Highland
419.558
423.452
3.894


Lanarkshire
686.476
694.547
8.071


Lothian
868.621
875.017
6.396


Orkney
26.852
27.045
0.193


Shetland
31.812
28.410
-3.402


Tayside
516.958
516.346
-0.612


Western Isles
50.307
48.587
-1.720


Total
6,436.205
6,436.205

NHS Waiting Times

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times for accident and emergency cases in hospitals have been in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board and hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: Between 1999 and 2002, information on waiting times at accident and emergency (A&E) departments was recorded centrally via a series of annual week-long surveys. The survey was reduced to three days duration in 2003 to minimise the workload of busy A&E Departments, as many departments completed the survey manually. The surveys specifically measured the waiting times from arrival in A&E to: time to triage; time to be seen by a doctor, and time to completion of treatment.

  The survey in April 2002 was undertaken during a seven-day period specifically identified by the Health Department. The surveys in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 were undertaken during a four week period identified by the Health Department, with each hospital deciding on the specific seven-day period of the survey. The three-day survey period for 2003, 2004 and 2005 was set by the Health Department. Average A&E attendances per survey day increased from 3,007 in 1999 to 3,636 in 2005 – a rise of 21%.

  Median waiting times from arrival to completion of treatment for individual NHSScotland accident and emergency departments in each of the years requested are set out in the table. Due to the changes in the timing and duration of the surveys from which the information is derived, year on year results may not be directly comparable.

  The Executive gave a commitment, in Fair to All, Personal to Each, published in December 2004, that from the end of 2007, patients will wait no longer than 4 hours between arriving at A&E and admission, transfer or discharge. The Health Department is working with NHS boards to ensure that they are able to meet this target for the benefit of patients throughout Scotland.

  NHSScotland: Accident And Emergency Waiting Times Surveys 1999–2005. Median Wait Times from Arrival at A&E Reception to Completion of Treatment

  

 
Median Waiting Time (Minutes)


19991
20001
20011
20022
20033
20043
20053


NHS Argyll and Clyde
61
62
73
76
79
94
79


Inverclyde Royal Hospital 
51
68
68
84
75
133
78


Lorn & Islands District Gen Hospital 
x
x
x
45
45
55
40


Royal Alexandra Hospital 
70
64
84
81
96
94
106


Vale of Leven District General Hospital - Medical Assessment Unit 
x
x
x
x
x
x
103


Vale of Leven District General Hospital - Minor Injuries Unit 
x
x
x
x
x
x
60


Vale of Leven District General Hospital
58
54
68
65
75
46
x


NHS Ayrshire and Arran
88
78
82
91
73
110
90


Crosshouse Hospital 4
x
73
85
85
x
113
103


The Ayr Hospital 
88
83
77
99
73
103
80


NHS Borders 
52
72
98
112
96
64
109


Borders General Hospital 
52
72
98
112
96
64
109


NHS Dumfries and Galloway 
37
51
56
56
46
79
94


Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary 
37
51
56
56
46
79
94


NHS Fife
62
79
57
85
90
120
103


Queen Margaret Hospital 
51
73
60
78
118
121
126


Victoria Hospital 
76
83
55
95
65
120
88


NHS Forth Valley
60
70
87
115
72
85
93


Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary 
65
65
120
135
83
79
100


Stirling Royal Infirmary 
55
80
65
94
64
95
85


NHS Grampian
71
55
90
91
89
79
90


Aberdeen Royal Infirmary 
85
60
110
109
104
87
111


Dr Gray’s Hospital 
45
50
55
75
72
105
70


Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital 
42
38
36
44
60
58
62


NHS Greater Glasgow 
69
78
87
91
91
100
90


Glasgow Royal Infirmary 
94
89
100
125
115
145
127


Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow 
107
131
116
103
90
88
88


Southern General Hospital 
80
82
114
92
128
123
103


Stobhill Hospital 
88
86
98
99
75
91
95


Victoria Infirmary 
32
45
46
55
52
70
54


Western Infirmary/Gartnavel General 
62
73
90
102
111
125
149


NHS Highland
46
46
80
88
62
124
73


Raigmore Hospital 
46
46
80
88
62
124
73


NHS Lanarkshire 
62
79
94
91
79
102
133


Hairmyres Hospital 
68
96
110
99
68
90
141


Law Hospital
45
54
79
x
x
x
x


Monklands Hospital 
74
95
101
90
66
107
134


Wishaw General Hospital 
x
x
x
85
100
103
127


NHS Lothian 
89
95
113
90
102
107
102


New Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 
x
x
x
x
x
x
162


Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh 
72
78
64
74
65
64
69


Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 
113
112
139
92
132
131
x


St John’s Hospital At Howden 
61
80
99
106
98
118
82


NHS Orkney Islands
28
25
20
30
25
35
25


Balfour Hospital 
28
25
20
30
25
35
25


NHS Shetland Islands
49
35
48
45
48
35
60


Gilbert Bain Hospital 
49
35
48
45
48
35
60


NHS Tayside 
65
56
65
73
72
96
94


Ninewells Hospital 
75
70
75
78
92
102
95


Perth Royal Infirmary 
49
37
46
63
48
85
88


NHS Western Isles 
40
40
55
35
60
45
60


Western Isles Hospital 
40
40
55
35
60
45
60


All Participating Departments
67
74
84
88
84
99
97



  Source: ISD Scotland, SMR30C.

  Notes:

  x - Not available.

  Small numbers: When medians are based on a small number of cases, there is a risk that their value is potentially misleading as only one or two cases may significantly alter the "typical" wait implied by the median. Therefore, where the number of valid cases is less than 15, medians have been replaced by "*".

  Where the number of valid cases is more than 14 but less than 50, medians have been italicised.

  1. A&E waiting times survey undertaken during a seven-day period identified by the Scottish Executive Health Department.

  2. A&E waiting times survey undertaken during a four-week period identified by the Scottish Executive Health Department, with individual hospitals deciding on the specific seven-day period of the survey.

  3. A&E waiting times surveys undertaken during a three-day period identified by the Scottish Executive Health Department.

  4. Data for Crosshouse Hospital in 1999 and 2003 is unavailable.

NHS Waiting Times

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many out-patients were given an availability status code at the end of each of the last 16 quarters, broken down also by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific information requested is not available.

  Centrally collected information is available on the number of patients on the out-patient waiting list who held an availability status code on each census date, but this information does not indicate the date on which the code was applied. The out-patient waiting list was introduced in September 2004. Information is also collected centrally on the numbers of patients with an availability status code who were seen at consultant-led out-patient clinics for a first out-patient appointment, but the information does not indicate the date on which the code was applied.

NHS Waiting Times

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the national quarterly median waiting time provided by the Information Statistics Division for in-patients includes figures for the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: The inpatient/day case median waiting times figures published by ISD Scotland on its Acute Hospital Care website each quarter include submissions from the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in any NHSScotland-level analyses.

Rendition Flights

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the procedures for requesting permission to land at airports operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, in particular in respect of flights by the CIA or by agencies to whom the CIA has outsourced services, are affected by NATO accords or other similar agreements and whether these procedures apply equally to military and civilian flights.

Tavish Scott: This is a reserved matter. The UK Department for Transport grants permission, under the Chicago Convention through the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and the Air Navigation Order 2005, for foreign aircraft to operate commercial civil flights in the UK where they land and take on board or discharge passengers or cargo and where payment is given or promised in respect of that carriage. Prior permission is not required where payment is not given for carriage or where no passengers are taken on board or discharged.

  NATO accords do not affect the routine use of national airspace or airports. Permission for foreign military flights is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. No prior clearance is required for US military aircraft or civil aircraft on US Government business to land in the UK. Aircraft carrying dangerous air cargo or VIPs (e.g. senior Government officials, senior politicians and Heads of State) must be notified to the Ministry of Defence.

Scottish Executive Staff

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average number of days lost per employee as a result of sickness absence has been in each of its departments in each year from 1999 to 2005.

Mr Tom McCabe: The average number of days absence, due to sickness, per employee in each of the Scottish Executive core departments since 2000 is provided in the following table. Comparable figures for 1999 do not exist as the organisational structure was different prior to 2000; only a total figure for all core departments is available for 1999.

  

SE Core Departments
Average Sickness (Days)


1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Legal and Parliamentary Services
-
-
-
5.8
6.0
3.3


Office of the Permanent Secretary
-
7.3
6.1
7.3
7.2
6.5


SE Development Department
-
5.1
3.6
3.9
6.5
4.3


SE Education Department
-
5.1
4.1
5.7
6.1
4.5


SE Environment and Rural Affairs Department
-
5.4
4.0
5.5
6.3
5.7


SE Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
-
6.5
4.1
5.7
6.1
5.3


SE Finance and Central Services Department
-
4.7
3.7
5.3
6.5
6.3


SE Health Department
-
4.8
3.2
4.5
5.6
7.3


SE Justice Department
-
3.9
3.0
4.0
4.9
5.0


Centrally Managed Staff - incl. Long Term Sick (CMS)
-
83.2
72.9
81.6
93.6
85.3


Core departments Total (with CMS)
7.4
6.7
5.5
7.2
7.8
7.1

Scottish Executive Staff

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many days have been lost as a result of sickness absence in each of its departments in each year from 1999 to 2005.

Mr Tom McCabe: The number of sick absence days in the Scottish Executive Core Departments since 2000 is provided in the table below. Included is the percentage of days taken as sick absence as a proportion of available working days. Comparable figures for 1999 do not exist as the organisational structure was different prior to 2000; only an average for all of the Core Departments is available for 1999.

  Sickness Absence in the Scottish Executive: 1999-2005

  

SE Core Departments
Total Sick Days & % Sick Days


1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Legal & Parliamentary Services
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,053
2.75%
1,133
2.87%
672
1.58%


Office of the Permanent Secretary
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
5,477
3.29%
4,599
2.84%
5,438
3.04%
5,545
3.06%
5,811
3.05%


SE Development Department
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
2,671
4.40%
2,118
3.34%
1,930
2.90%
2,081
3.02%
1,274
2.02%


SE Education Department
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
2,036
4.10%
1.253
2.18%
1,598
2.71%
1,746
2.88%
1,262
2.12%


SE Environment & Rural Affairs Department
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
5,646
2.53%
4,401
1.86%
6,127
2.56%
7,031
2.94%
6,346
2.69%


SE Enterprise, Transport & Lifelong Learning Department
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
2,093
2.04%
1,413
1.02%
1,989
1.74%
3,243
2.85%
3,020
2.47%


SE Finance & Central Services Department
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
1,989
2.30%
1,858
1.68%
3,035
2.48%
3,821
3.05%
2,990
3.00%


SE Health Department
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
1,670
2.25%
1,228
1.86%
1,782
2.16%
2,327
2.67%
2,934
3.45%


SE Justice Department
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
955
2.36%
688
1.57%
965
1.93%
1,298
2.33%
1,303
2.39%


Centrally Managed Staff (including long-term sick leave)
Absence as a % of total staff working days
-
-
5,077-
5,904-
8,156-
7,393-
7,082-


Core departments Total (with CMS)
Absence as a % of total staff working days
29,874
3.73%
27,611
3.28%
23,460
2.59%
32,070
3.36%
35,615
3.67%
32,692
3.36%

Social Work

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it accepts the estimate by Professor Arthur Midwinter that spending on children’s social work services is £135 million less than required to fund these services adequately.

Robert Brown: No. The estimated gap is between Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) for Children’s Social Work Services and budgeted spend in 2003-04 on these services by local authorities. GAE, however, is not intended to support the total costs of providing services and councils have considerable flexibility to allocate resources to meet local needs and priorities.

  Comparison between GAE for children’s social work and budgeted spend does not take account of other resources provided to support services for children. Other resources allocated by the Executive include around £57 million from the Sure Start programme which is intended to provide more integrated services for our most vulnerable children and families and the Changing Children’s Services Fund which will provide over £65 million to support the modernisation and integration of services for children.

Special Educational Needs

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether conveners and members of Additional Support Needs Tribunals are required to provide their biographical details prior to appointment.

Robert Brown: All conveners and members of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals are required to provide their biographical details prior to appointment and all have met this requirement.

Special Educational Needs

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the biographical details, qualifications and registered interests of conveners and members of Additional Support Needs Tribunals and, if so, by what date the information will be published.

Robert Brown: The names of all the conveners and members of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals can be found on the Additional Support Needs Tribunals website at www.asntscotland.gov.uk . The Scottish Executive does not intend to publish their biographical details, qualifications and registered interests.

  A Scottish Executive news release dated 21 October 2005, provided the biographical and other details of the President of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals.

Special Educational Needs

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether each and all conveners and members of Additional Support Needs Tribunals have been subject to a disclosure check by the Scottish Criminal Record Office and have received clearance.

Robert Brown: All conveners and members of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals have been subject to a disclosure check by the Scottish Criminal Record Office and have received clearance.

Special Educational Needs

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the members of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals have been or are currently employed by a local education authority, or have been contracted to a local authority in some capacity.

Robert Brown: Seventy-three percent (11 out of 15) of the members of the Additional Support Needs Tribunals have been or are currently employed by a local authority, or have been contracted to a local authority in some capacity. Only three are currently employed by local authorities.

Special Educational Needs

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to amend regulations in respect of Additional Support Needs Tribunals.

Robert Brown: The Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland (Practice and Procedure) Rules 2006 were laid in Parliament on 1 March 2006 (Scottish Statutory Instrument 2006-88. These rules re-enact the previous rules (Scottish Statutory Instrument 2005-05-14) with minor amendments and points of clarification as requested by the Subordinate Legislation Committee, Education Committee and Scottish Committee of the Council on Tribunals.

  Any further amendments to the regulations will be considered as and when necessary.

Water Supply

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to questions S2W-22538, S2W-22539, S2W-22540, S2W-22541 and S2W-22542 by Rhona Brankin on 26 January 2006, when the detailed information requested will be supplied by Scottish Water.

Rhona Brankin: As the previous answers made clear, these were operational matters for Scottish Water, and I understand that they have now supplied you with the information requested in your earlier questions.

Young People

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken since the Young Runaways and Children Abused Through Prostitution Working Group last reported.

Robert Brown: The conclusion of the Young Runaways and Children Abused Through Prostitution Working Group’s work was the publication of the Vulnerable Children and Young People Guidance Pack on 29 July 2003. Since then the Scottish Executive has provided £121,520 over three years to the Aberlour Child Care Trust to appoint a project worker to their Running Other Choices project.

  We have also provided £603,314 from 2002-06, and are committed to providing a further £226,108 in future years, to the Aberlour Child Care Trust to set up and run a pilot refuge in Glasgow.

  In addition, we have provided funding for Barnardo’s Scotland to undertake a research project into sexually exploited young people in secure accommodation. A summary of this report was published last year.

Young People

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authorities have set up protocols to deal with young runaways.

Robert Brown: This information is not centrally held.

Young People

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has offered to local authorities to deal with young runaways.

Robert Brown: A guidance pack, Vulnerable Children and Young People , was issued on 29 July 2003. This contained guidance for all agencies dealing with young runaways and children sexually exploited through prostitution.

Young People

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received regarding the provision of services for young runaways.

Robert Brown: The provision of services for young runaways has not been specifically raised with the Scottish Executive beyond the initiatives we have indicated we are funding in the answer to question S2W-23394 on 3 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .